Taming of the Shrew
Category: Coastal Forest, Elephant Shrew, Shimoni Forest, Shrews, Small mammals | Date: Nov 17 2009 | By: gvikenya
For about a year now we’ve been experimenting with a method of trapping the elusive and shy Zanj elephant shrew. This particular shrew is technically a sengi, and is a species that is not only endemic to the east African coast, but is also listed as ‘rare’ and ‘data deficient’ by the IUCN.
Shimoni forest boasts a significant population of this small mammal, and sightings of it by our forest teams are fairly regular (especially at this time of year when visibility is good). So we did some research and decided to procure ourselves a 50m long, very finely threaded fishing net with which to catch them with!
One of the cleared patches that mark the habitual pathway
We set the net up in a large semi circle, and either ‘beat the bush’ towards the net hoping to drive a shrew into it, or we sit nice and quietly and wait for one to wander in. This method works because the Zanj elephant shrew uses habitual pathways, which it will travel along each day clearing them of obstacles. So if one was to encounter the net, it would most likely attempt to get through or over the net, causing it to get entangled. Once caught we would take its measurements, weight, and then clip a small patch of fur on a designated spot on its body for mark-recapture purposes.
Some zanj elephant shrew droppings that are found around the paths
Unfortunately we haven’t caught one yet, but I do not doubt the method itself. Due to the amount of time needed to complete all of our regular surveys, we only get a chance to do this survey perhaps once or twice every three months. This is obviously not even remotely enough to stand a chance of catching a shrew. Especially because until recently we did not know what their trails looked like and therefore could not strategically place our net.
But a couple of weeks ago we saw one of the little chaps running away from us, and so we had a closer look at the exact route it took through the undergrowth. To our surprise, the path was quite obviously marked. Approximately every 30cm, there is a cleared area of dirt. A patch where all the leaf litter and twigs and other debris is cleared, leaving a bare area of dirt approximately 10cm long. And these cleared patches headed off into the undergrowth!
Several of the patches leading off into the undergrowth
Now we know what to look for, we have been spotting the shrew trails all over the forest! This has given us motivation to get back into shrew netting, and allowed us to strategically place our net across these trails, greatly increasing our chance of catching one!
We’ll keep you posted!
Tags: , beat the bush, data deficient, debris, droppings, East African Coast, elusive, endemic, entangled, fishing net, good visibility, habitual pathways, IUCN, leaf litter, mark-recapture, measurments, method of trapping, obstacles, rare, regular surveys, research, sengi, Shimoni Forest, shrew netting, shy, significant population, small mammal, strategically, trails, twigs, undergrowth, weight, zanj elephant shrew
Critically Endangered Bird Sighting!
Category: Birds, Coastal Forest, Shimoni Forest, Spotted Ground Thrush | Date: Oct 13 2009 | By: gvikenya
So on Friday we told you about our southern-banded snake eagle sighting, and on Saturday you heard about our humpback whale. Well I’m afraid we’re going to keep boasting about our sightings, because they don’t end there!
It was at the end of the week, and a forest team was wearily trudging back to base from a long, hot day of forest research. We were no more than 30 metres away from the gates, when we heard a rustling in the leaf litter to our left. We all peered in, and to the utter shock of us all we were staring straight at a spotted ground thrush! This was one of the most exciting sightings we’ve had in months and months. And to our utter disbelief and joy – we saw it again today! We think it was the same one as it was in almost exactly the same spot.
This may not sound that exciting, until we tell you that it is a critically endangered species with very restricted distributions. It is under serious threat from habitat loss, and Shimoni forest is one of the few places left in the world that it can still be seen.
It is a medium sized (about 8 inches) terrestrial forest thrush that is difficult to observe. This is mainly due to it being well camouflaged, silent and shy. It tends to freeze motionless when disturbed or surprised. It lives mainly in deeply shaded areas with deep leaf litter, where it feeds on seeds, fruits and invertebrates.
(zimmerman et al, 1999)
This is only the third and fourth sighting we’ve had of this species in almost a year, which when you imagine we are in the forest almost every single day, highlights the rarity of this sighting. There is action being taken however, consisting mainly of a partnership between Birdlife International and Nature Kenya, plus other organisations in several countries, who are working together to gather data and information about this species. They are then using this information to produce conservation management strategies to safeguard the future of this wonderful bird.
Tags: Birdlife International, camouflaged, conservation management plan, countries, critically endangered, data, Forest, freeze, fruits, future, habitat loss, humpback whale, information, invertebrates, leaf litter, motionless, Nature Kenya, observe, organisations, partnership, rare, research, restricted distributions, safeguard, seeds, serious threat, shy, sighting, silent, Southern Banded Snake Eagle, species, Spotted Ground Thrush, strategies, terrestrial
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